ST. ALBERT, Alta. — Team North America got the great start that Kevin Martin was looking for Thursday in opening day play at the World Financial Group Continental Cup of Curling.

Canada’s Cheryl Bernard and Jennifer Jones came through with respective victories over Germany’s Andrea Schopp and Switzerland’s Mirjam Ott in the morning draw. American Erika Brown recorded a five-ender to take a 5-1 lead on Bingyu Wang, but let her Chinese opponent off the hook or it could have been a clean sweep over Team World.

The sweep came in the afternoon draw in mixed doubles as North America turned that 12-6 morning lead into a comfortable 30-6 advantage. The day ended with the hosts up 42-12 after the evening men’s play in which the World lost two of three games.

“The coaches said to us (Wednesday) that every little point is going to count because, at the end, it can be a two-point or three-point difference. And it was good for us even to feel good on the ice and come off with a win. It’s a first time for us here,” said Bernard, a rookie at the international event, which is run similarly to the Ryder Cup golf format.

“You don’t want all that pressure on the last day, for it to be for everything, so if you can build up a bit of a bank, that probably helps. Although I’m just listening to all the veterans tell me how to do it out here,” Bernard said with a laugh.

The Calgarian simply went out and showed Team North America the way.

“That was all right, yeah,” said Bernard, the Olympic women’s silver medallist. “That was good for us. It’s really neat to play for a whole team. It’s different. You play for you, your team, the four of you. But I was thinking about it about halfway through (the game) because they were all cheering. I said, ‘It feels good playing for a big team like this.’ “

Bernard struck for a deuce in the fourth end, then stole one in the fifth to assume a 4-1 lead on the way to a 6-2 victory over Schopp. Winnipeg’s Jones popped Ott for three in the fifth end, gave up a three-ender of her own in the sixth, but rattled off another three in the seventh to win 7-5.

“Cheryl’s team, especially, they played really well,” Martin said of Bernard. “This is a good start. In the last Continental Cup (in Camrose in 2008), I’m thinking we only had seven points the whole first day.”

Actually, the World led 30-6 after two draws that year and carried a 36-18 lead after Day 1.

This time, it could have been much worse. After keeping Wang to one in the first end, Brown managed to score five in the second on a double takeout. But Wang bounced back with a deuce in the third and stole two in each of the fourth and fifth ends to swipe the 9-7 victory.

“We had some problems with the line and the weight in the second end to give them the five. But they also did well to make the double,” said Wang. “Later on, they started to make some misses, so we came back. It’s tough to come back in eight ends, but it was our first game and we had some problems ourselves. It’s not as bad when you can steal (ends).”

With each win in the opening draws of the four-day team competition worth six points, and ties worth three, North America bounced back with a solid effort in mixed doubles.

Carter Rycroft, the second on Kevin Koe’s Canadian and world championship team, combined with Jones to hammer Wang’s lead, Yan Zhou, who curled a solid 97 per cent in the morning draw, and third Torger Nergard of Norway 12-4. Swedish skip Niklas Edin and Monika Wagner, Schopp’s third, lost 6-4 to Martin, the Olympic champ, and Ann Swisshelm, the U.S. second. Wang and Olympic silver medallist Thomas Ulsrud of Norway dropped a tough 7-6 decision to U.S. men’s third Shawn Rojeski and Bernard third Susan O’Connor.

The first team to 201 points wins the overall title. Team World downed North America in the last Continental Cup at Camrose to tie the series at 3-3 when Ulsrud downed Martin in the final skins game. Martin needed to sweep Ulsrud to have any hope of a victory, but was unsuccessful.

Edmonton Journal

mannicchiaricoedmontonjournal.com

Twitter.com/marioEJ

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.